When Antonik and his team were ambushed, Shinost rushed the enemy fighters and assaulted their position from less than 500 feet away. He called in firepower from an A-10 plane, “destroying all enemy positions to his front.” He sprinted through the open and a hail of enemy gunfire to mark the landing zone for medical helicopters, then continued to call in “danger close” air strikes to kill the enemy attacking close to the Marines.

During the two-day operation, U.S. and Afghan forces evacuated 10 of their wounded personnel and killed 28 insurgents.

Antonik died that day. His loss was a painful undercurrent to the medal ceremony.

Quill’s father and grandparents were corpsmen and four uncles also served in the Navy; Antonik was the only Marine Quill met who he wanted to emulate. “He was a mentor, a friend and a true leader. I miss him a lot, I still miss him,” he said.

Antonik was friendly and dedicated. Before every mission, he would pump up the team by asking “is this good for America?” He didn’t go in for pomp and probably would have thought the awards ceremony was “silly,” his buddies said.

“It’s very tough standing up here talking about that day. As joyous as today is, it’s very bittersweet because we lost a very good friend,” Rose said.

Putting his life at risk, “it’s what our country asked of him. He was the first man down that path as I expected him to be. He is the one who took the brunt of that force,” Rose said. “I would give it all back if he were here today.”

Airman Breanna Soutra, 20, dressed in her Air Force uniform, stopped to hug her cousin Soutra in the receiving line. He helped motivate her to join the military, she said.

The Navy Cross action was just one of many intense encounters that her cousin experienced in combat. As for the medal, “Sometimes he doesn’t feel like he deserves it, but he really does. He worked hard and put a lot of effort into it.

“He’s made history,” she said. His father, a former Marine who passed away when Soutra was young, would have been proud.